Kiss Me At Midnight
by leatherlikedean
Summary: Benny's heading to the States for New Year's and Ethan's less than pleased. But the night before 2014 isn't a complete bust and by some sort of magic, a miracle is still at play. Benny/Ethan!


_**Well shit, I totally forgot that this was supposed to be posted tonight so this is being written five hours before the new year. Sorry if it's terrible but I'm kind of an idiot so there you go :D **_

_**~.~.~**_

A week before New Year's Eve, Ethan and Benny are standing together in the middle of the airport and Ethan looks ready to kill someone. Grandma Weir is talking to a nice man at the ticket counter and is unaware of this fact, and Benny thinks that's just better for everyone.

"Ethan," Benny murmurs to him, elbowing his side. "Lighten up, dude. You're going to send my grandmother into cardiac arrest if she realizes how broken up about this you are."

Ethan's scowl just deepens. "I'm sorry, but I'm not particularly in a light, cheery mood. Try again in, oh, let's say a week and a half when you'll be coming back from _halfway around the world,_" he bites back, and Benny wants to point out that that's a slight exaggeration, but he doesn't want to risk his untimely death.

Sighing, the taller boy just gives up on turning Ethan's frown upside down. He is the cause of it, afterall, because Grandma wouldn't let him wheedle out of going to cousin Raymond's. It wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't both in the States and right smack dab in the middle of New Years. Ethan is just being a baby because he's throwing a party-ish type of get together for them, Rory, Sarah and Erica and now Benny's going to miss it.

With a pang, he realizes he sounds like one of those kinds of boyfriends- the assholes who only care about themselves. Because Ethan really doesn't ask for much.

Reaching down, Benny takes ahold of Ethan's hand and squeezes, until Ethan looks up at him with sad eyes and a wobbly mouth.

"I'm sorry E." he tells him honestly, and Ethan just says nothing. "If I could stay, I would, but there's no family reunion this summer and this is the only time we'll get the chance to go down to Minnesota and see everyone."

Ethan looks up at Benny for a moment, and suddenly feels terrible because he's acting like a child.

He sighs. "I know, Ben. I was just really looking forwards to having a nice New Years for once, with just us and our friends- no parents or siblings or anything."

"We'll re-celebrate when I get back. Grandma can go out and we'll stay up all night eating and acting like morons."

Ethan's pout splits open into a grin, because that's just how they act when they're around each other- like slap-happy fools.

"Okay." he nods, and Benny feels considerably lighter.

They don't let go of each other as Grandma Weir leads them through the airport to their gate, and Benny uses his height to their advantage; he pushes them through the crowd, helps them to dodge those in a hurry, and pulls Ethan against him when a mean looking business man frowns at them for holding hands and smiling at each other. Ethan is blissfully ignorant to this exchange, but Benny, who's sick of everyone's bullshit, just flips the man the bird over his shoulder.

When they reach the gate, Ethan purposely begins to slow down and Benny is kind of an idiot, so he just asks if the smaller boy is okay. But Grandma Weir has lived for almost eighty years and she knows that look well.

Resting a hand on Benny's shoulder, she gives Ethan a small wink before her grandson turns to her.

"I'll wait for you at by the door."

Benny wonders what this means as he watches her walk away, but when he turns to look back at Ethan, the other is leaning up to kiss him soundly.

They stand there like this for a few moments, before Ethan pulls away to wrap himself around Benny like a spider monkey.

"I'm gonna miss you." he mumbles into Benny's neck, and Benny can't think because his mind and body are wonderfully warm from this show of affection Ethan so rarely gives him in public.

He wraps his arms around Ethan's skinny hips and pulls him even closer and he tries not to think about how long a week and a half is. The longest they've spent apart before was a weekend and it was hell because they've become a little codependent on each other.

"I'll bring you back something." Benny promises Ethan's spicey spelling hair, and he feels his boyfriend snort underneath him.

"Like what?" Ethan asks him, pulling back to look up at him. "A _Vikings _helmet?"

Benny laughs, and somehow they know they'll be fine. "Probably."

Ethan hums and kisses him again, letting go before he can't. "I'll see you in a week and a half."

"More like a lifetime," Benny sighs, but he gives Ethan's hand one last squeeze before letting go and walking back towards his smiling grandmother.

Ethan watches him with a smile and a heavy heart, and in jeans, a _Harry Potter _shirt, _Converse _and a beanie pulled over his curls, Benny's never looked more beautiful. It just makes letting him walk away hurt more.

This is proven when Ethan finally makes it back out to his car and after he collapses into the driver's seat, he rests his head on the steering wheel and screams until his throat hurts.

_**~.~.~ **_

Things get slightly better when New Year's finally rolls around and Samantha is getting Ross and Jane ready to leave the house. The fact that they'll be leaving him alone in the Victorian with his three best friends is like an early birthday present.

"We'll be at that fancy restaurant downtown- Remy's." Samantha informs him, pulling her jacket on. "And Jane's going to Lucia's. If there's any problems, call us, Lucia's house, or just run next door to Mary Anne's."

Ethan blanches at the thought of having to face his mean neighbor, and decides that if the house randomly catches fire or someone breaks in to kill him, he'll take his chances.

"Okay." he nods, and Samantha just smiles before giving him a hug.

"Tonight won't be terrible, Ethan. I'm sure you'll have fun."

Ethan sighs and nods against her shoulder, trying to agree but being unable to. "I can only hope so."

Samantha gives him one last squeeze before she wrangles up Ross and Jane and they leave, slipping out of the house into the late night darkness.

Ethan doesn't have to wait long after that for the other three to show up. He's watching a pre-ball drop show when the doorbell rings and it reveals all three of them at once- Sarah in a nice black dress, Erica in a red one, and Rory wearing a sweater. He feels fleetingly like Nate from _Gossip Girl _and shakes that feeling off at once because he's pretty sure Nate doesn't enjoy watching_ Battlestar Galactica _in his free time.

They've all brought food, too. Sarah's got some small snack foods, Erica's got the drinks, and Rory's got the sickeningly sweet dessert, and Ethan thinks yeah, this night might not be so bad afterall.

He's got company and food. What else could he ask for?

"Hey guys." he grins, and they all reply with sunny smiles as he takes the food to the living room and they all follow him.

"Ugh," Erica sounds absolutely disgusted by what's going on in regards to the TV. "This is the worst song in the world."

Ethan looks over to see Robin Thicke sliding around on a stage in Times Square, singing _Blurred Lines _in a deep chocolate colored suit. There are others dancing behind him and many fans screaming and singing in front of him, and Ethan thinks the exact same thing. _This song sucks._

"Well," he tells her, picking up a brownie. "It was this or those idiot from _Reelz_ talking about how glorious Kim Kardashian looks a few states over at a New Year's event."

That makes Erica's face warp into itself even more and she accepts Robin Thicke, settling down next to Sarah with a sigh and a handful of chips.

"Are you going to be a baby all night tonight or are you going to let us have some fun?" she asks Ethan, and hisses when Sarah slaps her on the thigh. "_Ouch_! I was just being honest, Sarah."

Sarah rolls her rich eyes at Erica and looks at Ethan with actual concern in her face.

"But seriously, are you going to be okay tonight? Maybe we could call and talk to him tonight, or something."

Ethan has already thought of that, but decided against it; Benny was in Minnesota to hang out with his family and catch up, not listen to Ethan act like a clingy girlfriend.

"Nah," he shakes his head, and smiles. "I'll be fine- I promise."

He takes a bite of his brownie before looking pointedly at Erica. "If I start acting like a bummer, throw something at me."

Erica declares that a victory and when she grins, her fangs are extended and Ethan shrinks away slightly.

"Keep her from killing me, though," he requests of Rory, who just nods around a mouth full of party weenies, and pats Ethan on the back reassuringly.

Ethan settles back against the couch, and choosing not to let the absence of his favorite person in the entire world upset him, he lets it go and tries to enjoy the night.

Which, of course, is easier said than done, especially when Rory is trying to show them all how he can put noodles in through his nose and pull them out of his mouth.

_**~.~.~**_

It's ten minutes to the count down and Ethan can honestly say that the night hasn't been a total bust. They've talked a lot, ate a lot, laughed a lot, and even got Erica to participate in charades.

Of course, every time she mimicked killing them all in some new way, but that's besides the point.

Erica surprises them by rushing to the fridge and pulling a bottle of champagne out of nowhere, a wild grin on her face and a light in her eyes that only comes from breaking the rules and getting away with it.

"The only person it's going to really effect is Ethan but who cares- let's drink!"

So Erica and Rory spend a few minutes looking through the kitchen to find good champagne glasses as Ethan and Sarah stay behind to watch the ticking clock on the TV. Sarah looks very peaceful in the dim lighting of the living room but he doesn't notice because Ethan's thinking about the time he and Benny had a snowball fight on New Years Eve and then made out in the middle of the midnight blizzard on the ground.

Sarah jerks him out of the wonderful memory by placing her hand on his and squeezing it lightly. He looks over at her, eyes blinking away wisps of Benny's glittering eyes and his grinning mouth covered in specks of snow.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" she asks him.

Ethan is surprised when he nods at her, smiling warmly. "Yeah. It was just fine."

Sarah smiles in approval and pats his hand. "Perfect."

"Okay, here we go." Erica announces with a swing in her tone as she pads back into the room, two champagne flutes in her hands, Rory right behind her. "One minute to go and counting."

Ethan is less than pleased that he won't be kissing anyone that year but he takes the bubbling drink from the blonde girl without protest. Maybe he'll get just buzzed enough to laugh without feeling like an ass for having fun without the entire _meaning _of fun.

"I would just like to say that this year has been fun and rather tame." Erica tells them, glass cradled in her hand. "It was boring as _fuck _and I want a better year."

Ethan rolls his eyes with an affectionate smile while Sarah tries to convince Erica this year was just fine, laughing as Erica points out all of the reasons why it wasn't, Rory throwing in his own opinions.

It's thirty seconds to midnight when the doorbell rings, and Ethan wonders who in the hell could be at his house at midnight. Maybe Jane came back early or his parents forgot the key.

"I've got it." Ethan tells them, and setting his flute down, he makes his way over to the door.

The countdown starts when he pulls the door open, and in a rush of ice cold wind and floating snowflakes, Ethan takes in the most wonderful sight in the entire fucking world.

Benny's standing there on his front porch, grinning at him; he's got his black anorak on, with a hat that has a yarn mohawk down the middle of his head, and Ethan has never found himself so glad to see someone who looks like a complete fool.

He doesn't even have time to say Benny's name before the countdown hits one and Benny's crushed up against him, hauling Ethan up for a kiss that feels like fire in comparison to the weather swirling up around them.

In the background, there's cheering from both the TV and the vampire trio, and the clinking of glasses, but it's hard to hear over the rush of blood in his ears. Benny's here and that's all that matters, because he tastes like hot chocolate and frost and dammit he missed his boyfriend _so damn much_.

When Benny eventually lets him go, Ethan's giddy and glad that there's an arm holding him up, because without it he would probably be a giggling mess on the ground.

"I am so glad to see you," he tells Benny, fingers tightening around his thick jacket. "Holy shit, you have _no _idea."

"I convinced Grandma to let us fly back early just so I could do that, Ethan." Benny tells him with a laugh. "I think I have a _pretty _good idea."

Ethan's eyes are crinkling up at the corners and his mouth hurts from all the smiling he's doing, but he could care less because Benny missed him just as much and pestered his grandmother probably since the moment they arrived in the States just to come back and kiss him at midnight.

"God, I love you." he tells Benny, and then they're back to kissing on the porch. It's easily below zero outside but he can't feel any of it because Benny's got him scooped up in his bear paws and his skin feels like the hottest fire ever made and his kisses are like mulled wine being poured down into his stomach.

They don't know how long they stand there for, kissing sweetly and enjoying their rather dramatic reunion.

But Erica does.

"Jesus, it's been twenty three minutes." she tskes, looking up at the clock on the wall. Her champagne flute has been filled up for the third time and it makes her feel kind of mortal again, all warm and fuzzy. She won't ever admit to it, but it feels nice. "Should we just pull them in and send them upstairs?"

"Nah," Sarah shakes her head, throwing a grin over at the door. "Ethan's got this thing about kissing Benny in the winter time and I don't want to be the one to interrupt."

"Interrupt what?" Erica snorts. "Ethan sprouting a vagina?"

"No," Rory tells her, picking up a cookie. "He's already got one."

Ethan sounds absolutely offended when he yells back at them, "I still have a penis, thank you very much."

_**~.~.~**_

_**A/N: Wow, I'm really proud of myself. This only took me two hours guys :D Yay! I hope you enjoyed this and I wish you all a happy new year! Let's hope '14 is better than '13 because this year was a flaming pile of shit ^_^**_


End file.
